Who’s still using a 7.3 diesel truck
Who’s still using a 7.3 diesel for there TC? How long have you had it? What TC do you have? What’s are some of the must haves to keep it chugging along happily with TC on top? Cheers
Forum Discussion
adamis wrote:F-350shortBed wrote:
I haven’t owned mine very long but I’m definitely going to recommend ear plugs. I went on a 4.5 hour trip two days in a row to buy a TC.
For about two days afterwards, I could still hear turbochargers ringing in my head. I don’t know if that’s due to aftermarket modifications but seriously, ear plugs are a necessity for my 7.3.
For reference, mine is 2000 super duty with banks chip, banks waste gate, 4”exhaust and air raid air filter box housing K&N air filter.
Vehicle has 190,600 miles so far no fuel in coolant doesn’t burn oil. I’ve only put about 1000 miles on this recently acquired vehicle.
The noise is definitely one of the few downfalls of the 7.3. It isn't even really the engine as a whole but rather the injectors that make most of the noise. I ended up going to single shot injectors which are notoriously louder than OEM so I went backwards in the sound department. Your 4" exhaust is probably the largest culprit along with the filter box.
My truck isn't my daily driver (stays indoors except to haul the camper) and the noise actually helps to put the twin babies to sleep so it actually kind of is a plus (though still annoying after a long drive). Long term if we were cross country RVing I would need to make changes. Either figure out a way to make it quieter or heaven forbid purchase a newer truck and keep the old girl stored as a classic.
I have looked into sound dampening and I think there are some things that could be done to make it quieter but it will never be as quiet as a modern diesel. There are hush panels from the Excursion (hard to find now) that can go on the inside and take a few db off. I've considered adding some thicker sound dampening material to the firewall in the engine bay but that would be very difficult without pulling the engine. Another person considered making under engine panels with sound deadening material on it based off their experience of driving in snow and noticing how much more quiet it was but figuring out how to mount it all correctly would be a pain.
I've seen a few Youtube videos of guys taking their interior apart and adding dampening all over it. It seems that most of these guys are not as happy as they thought they would be. I think insulating the cab helps with road noise but when the engine is making the most noise, it doesn't matter if you reduce road noise while the engine is still the loudest part of the equation.
I did that as I had to replace the floor anyways. I lined from under the dash as high as I could get to just under the back window and the inside of the doors with a dynomat like product, then I put a double layer of jute and carpet. made a significant difference. I still felt guilty starting it up in a campground at 7 am when it was time to get back on the road, but at least it was way more quiet than a dodge 12 or 24 valve haha. but like some have said the 6.7 is more quiet than the gas engines.
Steve
